Original Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Public Relations Research, October 13, 2009

For 10 out of the past 12 years, the Big Apple has been named the #1 city Americans say they would like to live in or near, if they could live in any city in the country except the one they currently live in or nearest to, a recent Harris Poll reveals. And this year is no exception: NYC continues its reign.

Perhaps the “why” needs no explanation; New York City has something for everyone (except cheap apartments!). And so, since we began asking this question in 1997, “the city so nice, they named it twice” has remained virtually unchallenged in the top spot.

More interesting, however, are the rest of the Top Ten rankings and the rise or fall in popularity of these cities.

#2 (tied) Denver, CO—↑ from #9 in 2007

#2 (tied) San Francisco, CA –↑ from #4

#4 San Diego, CA—↓ from #2

#5 Seattle, WA—↓from #3

#6 Chicago, IL—↑ from #11

#7 Boston, MA—↑ from #12

#8 Las Vegas, NV—↓from #5

#9 Washington, DC—New to the list since 1997

#10 Dallas, TX—New to the list since 2002, when it ranked #9

What has caused a supreme jump in popularity for Denver since 2007? (Surely it was the Democratic National Convention being hosted there and not The Real World: Denver). And I’m taken aback that seemingly American staple cities such as Chicago, Boston and D.C. weren’t even in the top 10 in 2007...(were we really so over Bush that D.C. couldn’t be included in the top FIFTEEN, even??)

In terms of cities in the top ten that dropped since 2007, none of them fell too drastically in comparison to their previous spots. I don’t really have hypotheses as to why San Diego or Vegas dipped but, as for Seattle, well, Grey’s Anatomy has taken a ratings bashing and, call me crazy, but Americans seem to want to live where their favorite TV stars reside… (think Friends, Sex and the City, and The Sopranos and you’ll get my drift…).

But that’s another blog entry for another day.

If YOU were given the option to live in ANY American city but the one in which you currently live, which would you choose? And why?